The night was already deep, and the man being discussed in the imperial study of Great Yong's palace was sitting quietly in a patch of woodland beside the Grand Canal.
The cat demon was still burning in the furnace fire, but once the gourd's mouth was sealed, her screams could no longer be heard.
"Sir, how many lives do you think this cat demon has left?"
Hui Mian studied the gourd carefully, then looked up at Yi Shuyuan's profile.
"We heard before that the Nine-Lives Cat Demon only had one life left, but she's died at least twice at your hands alone."
"Who cares how many lives she has? Just keep refining her in the furnace. Even ten lives won't save her!"
That was Yi Shuyuan's answer.
Having extra lives only helps if you can escape. If you can't, a few more lives just mean a few more rounds of suffering. The Heaven and Earth Gourd and my immortal furnace of artistic conception may not be the Supreme Elder Lord's Eight Trigrams Furnace, but you're no Sun Wukong either!
Hui Mian nodded, then looked at Chanting Dust, the folding fan in Yi Shuyuan's hand.
"Then shall we take a look at that coffin?"
Yi Shuyuan had already brought the folding fan before him and was studying the coffin depicted on one side.
"Just what I had in mind."
With that, Yi Shuyuan shook his fan.
Boom!
A cast-bronze coffin shook loose from the fan, and Yi Shuyuan felt the ground beneath his feet tremble slightly.
"You can't tell anything from the outside."
Murmuring to himself, Yi Shuyuan lightly touched the coffin lid with his fan and applied a little force. The lid fell to the ground with a clang.
Yi Shuyuan's pupils widened slightly. Another black outline had actually formed